Len Junier is hoping to become mayor 20 years after leaving girl for dead
Rachel Bidwell was playing football when she was hit by Junier in 1995
She fell into a coma and had to learn to walk and talk again after waking up
Family 'felt sick' when leaflet with Mr Junier's photo were posted to them
But his campaign manager has dismissed the revelation as 'muck-raking'
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A woman has spoken of her anger at receiving mayoral campaign leaflets from the man who 'left her for dead' in a hit-and-run accident when she was 10 years old.
Rachel Bidwell was shocked when she discovered that Len Junier - who drove away from the accident that left her with brain damage in 1995 - is hoping to become the next mayor of Middlesbrough.
Rachel, now 30, suffered life-changing injuries after waking from a week-long coma with brain damage and 20 years later is still affected by stroke-like symptoms and anger issues directly related to the head injury.
Hit-and-run: Rachel Bidwell, now 30, (right) has spoken of her anger after receiving campaign leaflets from mayoral candidate Len Junier (left) who left her brain damaged after a hit-and-run when she was 10 years old. Rachel needed a wheelchair for several years after the accident
Mr Junier failed to stop or call an ambulance after his car hit the schoolgirl.
In the aftermath of the accident Rachel had to learn to talk, walk and eat again after waking from her coma.
She still suffers from weakness to the left side of her body, seizures and behavioural problems - which saw her go from a perfectly-behaved child to one prone to bursts of anger.
Her unpredictable temperament meant she had to live in residential care away from her parents, Sue, 57, and Micheal, 56, for seven years.
Life-changing injuries: Rachel fell into a coma after being hit by the car and was brain damaged when she woke up one week later. 20 years on and she still suffers weakness to the left side of her body
Her family were sickened to receive campaign leaflets with Mr Junier's photo directly addressed to them and have called it a 'slap in the face'.
Rachel said: 'I didn't remember much when I was knocked over but over the years, more things come back to me.
'I remember playing with my friends and I walked from the bus stop behind a bus, and I heard screeching, that's when I was hit.
'It makes me angry and upset that someone who leaves a child for dead in the middle of a road can even think about becoming mayor of a town, it's not right.
'I can't go anywhere without seeing posters of Len Junier, they are everywhere. Every time I leave my house I am reminded of what has happened.
'All I want to do is to get a job and work with children, teach them, but I know I'll never be able to get that because of what happened to me.'
Her mother Sue Bidwell, a catering assistant, added: 'In December, we got three identical leaflets posted through the door, addressed to each person living there.
'I felt sick when I picked up the one addressed to Rachel and realised it was a campaign poster showing Len Junier to be a candidate for Mayor of Middlesbrough.
Parents: Sue and Michael Bidwell called Len Junier's bid to become mayor of Middlesbrough 'a slap in the face'
'I instantly stuffed it in a drawer. I hid it from Rachel for weeks because I knew what this kind of news would do to her because she is very bitter about her situation.
'We've been through hell for the last two decades. Rachel's life will never be the same because of the accident and neither will ours.
'She has behavioural problems and can become angry very easily. It got so bad that in 2005 she was taken into residential care. We were devastated because it was beyond our control.
'We've finally began to move on from the accident and Rachel is starting to manage her problems better and this has just brought it all back to us.
'I drive home from work and see campaign posters in the gardens and windows of houses in our area and I feel so angry.
'The people of Middlesbrough should know what he has done and what he is like.
'I believe a mayor should not be someone who leaves a seriously hurt little girl in the middle of the road.'
Rachel was out playing football with her friends in February 1995 when she was hit by Mr Junier's Ford Sierra after she walked out from behind a bus.
The family feared she would die when she was placed on life support for three days in a bid to stop her brain from swelling.
Before the accident: Rachel was perfectly behaved prior to the hit-and-run but suffered years of anger issues afterwards and would occasionally lash out at others
Condemned candidacy: Rachel, said 'it makes me angry and upset that someone who leaves a child for dead in the middle of a road can even think about becoming mayor of a town'
She spent a month in hospital and afterwards she was confined to a wheelchair and had to leave her primary school.
Sue and Michael, a council worker, faced an emotional struggle when Rachel's behaviour and anger issues began to worsen and her sisters Gina, 38, Samantha, 37, and Amanda, 35, moved out of the family home.
Mr Junier handed himself into police the day after the accident. There is no suggestion that Mr Junier was responsible for the accident.
Ms Bidwell added: 'Our little girl had the perfect life and now it has been changed forever. She was a great footballer, now she finds it hard to coordinate her body.
'He is promising a better future for young people but he didn't have that in mind when he was driving away from a young girl who he had just injured.'
Len Junier's campaign manager said: 'The mayoral election has descended into muck-raking and dirty tricks. An anonymous person has reheated a historic issue in a brutal and calculated way.
'Len has expressed deep remorse and contrition for what happened 21 years ago. His record has been unblemished since and he deserves to be judged on his excellent ideas for and his commitment to the people of Middlesbrough.'
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